Hill, L S "Bud", Murder of - Pushmataha County, Oklahoma Submitted by: Lyndell Rusk 21 Dec 2008 Return to Pushmataha County Archives: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/pushmataha/pushmataha.html ===================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ===================================================================== The Murder of Deputy U. S. Marshal L.S. Bud Hill Bud's Final Words Identified His Killer On the Sunday evening of July 17, 1898, U. S. Deputy Marshal Bud Hill's life came to an end. He was forty three years old. A warrant had been sworn out that afternoon for a young man named Floyd Simpson to be arrested for interfering with a brush arbor meeting that was being held just across the line from Jenson, Arkansas (Sebstian County) and just inside Indian Territory. This warrant was sworn out by H. M. Couch who had been a past school teacher of Floyd Simpson. The complaint was made in Cameron and the various charges were throwing rocks, rotten eggs, clods of dirt, nailing nails in the preachers seats and interrupting the meeting with talking and misbehavior. The more than twenty depositions that are on file in the Ft. Worth Federal Records tell a varied story. The people were arranged around and under the brush arbor, by the church-school named Walnut Grove and around the various trees in the area. Jasper Simpson had chosen the area of the church where he was sitting with other men. He had brought his gun with him. The stories the witnesses told varied with the proximity to the participants that evening. Bud and his posse of one man, Boley Grady, had gone to arrest Floyd Simpson, a young man about nineteen at that time. The two men asked regarding the identity of Floyd as they walked up. They were directed to Floyd. A hand was laid on Floyd's shoulder and he was asked if he was Floyd Simpson. He immediately tried to break away from Boley Grady and eventually he was hit on the head by Boley so that he could not escape. Floyd called for his father "Come Pa". The witnesses said that Floyd's father, William Jasper Simpson, came running toward the two deputies with his gun drawn. He shot Boley Grady and he was killed instantly. Floyd's mother and sister Ellen were also there by Boley Ellen was cut by her brother's knife according to one testimony. Jasper's gun misfired and as he came up to L. S. "Bud" Hill, Bud asked him for his gun and told him that he would have to arrest him. Jasper had just killed Boley even though it was against the law for anyone to carry a gun in Indian Territory except U. S. deputies.. Jasper grabbed Bud's gun and then shot him also. In the deposition of N. D. Bearly, the following is a quote from his deposition. "I saw the arm of a man in his shirt sleeve reach around the lady (Floyd's mother) with his hand in the direction of the officer who had the boy and I heard the pistol fire and the officer fell. The man that shot that shot, then turned toward the tall officer (Hill) and pointed his pistol and fired at the tall officer. The officer Hill had both his hands to his side and backed off, bent over and walked on around the crowd. . .. When he (Hill) threw his hands to his side, I couldn't see any pistol. I had not seen him with a pistol after Simpson had grabbed at the pistol. The tall officer (Hill) walked around to where the other officer fell, I heard him say to the crowd 'this man is dead' and I am shot". Hill asked for a doctor, water and the ministers. As soon as he called for a doctor, he (Hill) turned. After I returned from my wagon, he (Hill) was lying on the ground. I heard him talking. He said "Simpson shot me with my own gun. He took my gun away from me and shot me with it". I heard him say it two or three times. It was before any shot was fired that I saw Simpson grab at Hill's pistol". Bud lived about thirty minutes-he was already dead by the time the doctor arrived. Jasper Simpon ran from the law and was a fugitive for about six years. He finally was arrested in Marlow, Stephens County, I.T. by a U. S. Deputy. Jasper's daughter writes in her autobiography called "Long Road From Jenson" information about the arrest of her father, where her father worked and went was during those six years he was a fugitive. Jasper is buried in Stephens County, Oklahoma. Bud Hill's gun was never recovered-all that was left for his widow and eight children was his holster. What Bud said about his killer that il-fated night was heard by other men and that was the story told down through the years by Bud's widow. Both Floyd and Jasper Simpson served some jail time but never served time to prison. There were several changes of venue and the final trial was in Antlers. Further research is being done for actual court records at the trial. L. H. Rusk --------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to Pushmataha County Archives: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/pushmataha/pushmataha.html